


Changing By the Minute

by LonelySparrow



Category: One Direction
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Drinking, M/M, Pool, Smoking, Snooker, University, frat, frat niall, frat party, hash, pool king, uni!AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-02
Updated: 2014-01-02
Packaged: 2018-01-07 05:15:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1115949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LonelySparrow/pseuds/LonelySparrow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niall is the pool king on campus and in a fraternity. Harry is just a freshman that has a crush on him. They come together at a party.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Changing By the Minute

**Author's Note:**

> Don't sue me. Don't show to anyone involved. It's just for your entertainment and mine.

Harry Styles leans against the wall, shirt slightly sticky from where someone had bumped into his back and spilled beer all down his spine. He looks every bit the part of a first year university student. In his right hand, he’s got a red solo cup half full of some cheap vodka and cola product mixed and his left hand runs nervously through the mass of curls settled on top of his head. He watches everyone over the top rim of his cup and if someone meets his eyes for a bit too long, he flushes and looks at his converse out of shyness. He’s constantly checking his appearance and questioning his choice of black skinny jeans with holes and a plain gray t-shirt. Maybe he should have worn something nicer, although the sticky beer along his back makes him think he made the right choice.

There’s one pair of blue eyes that never seem to notice him, though Harry’s been tracking this particular boy’s movements ever since he arrived at the fraternity house. He’s somewhat glad that the blue eyed boy hasn’t really noticed him, because if Harry’s being honest, he would have had to vacate the room before he creamed his pants. 

His name is Niall Horan and he’s a second year at the university. Everyone on campus knows his name and the number of friends he has on Facebook is triple the amount that lived in Harry’s hometown back in England. He’s an international student from Ireland and Harry can’t decide if the boy is so popular because of the Irish charm or his own congenial way of socializing with literally everyone. He’s the most well-known frat boy on campus and Harry’s absolutely smitten by him.

Which, in Harry’s humble opinion, makes Niall a bit untouchable. He’s been a bit in love with Niall since the moment he saw him on the first day of freshman orientation. Niall was one of the peer advisors. Peer advisors help students find their classes and adjust to life at university. Niall mostly worked with other international students, although Harry somehow ended up with an American Peer Advisor, despite his own International status.

Liam Payne was an American student from Michigan and Harry was assigned to him as an advisee. Liam was a great bloke that knew his way around campus really well and was very friendly. Harry liked him a lot, but sometimes Liam reminded him of his own dad and that was a bit weird. One of the great things about Liam though was that he was mates with Niall. In fact, Liam is how Harry first discovered Niall even existed. 

 

Liam had been showing Harry and the rest of his group where the Classics building was located when a shout erupted from behind them.

“PAYNO! Liam!” Harry remembers Liam’s face as he turned around, watching Liam’s rich brown eyes shine and crinkle at the corners as he bro-hugged his best friend.

“Niall! Man, how was your summer? How was Ireland? Everyone’s missed you here in the states!” Liam had slapped Niall on the back and fist bumped him.

“It was great, Liam. I missed the Guinness. Don’t care what you say, Li, American beer is shit compared to the Irish.” Niall had smiled and looked at the cluster of students that were hovering nervously behind Liam. Harry had been huddled in the back, watching with interest.

“These your kids?” He asked, smiling wide. He looked like actual sunshine then. Still does.

Harry would sell a kidney to be able to talk to Niall the way most of campus can. Niall greets everyone with a wave and a smile and stops to chat for a moment, even if he might be a bit late to class. All of the professors like Niall even. It’s all a bit ridiculous really, but Niall’s just so endearing. Harry’s run into Niall several times on campus but when he tries to go up and say something he gets too scared and bolts in the other direction.

Harry sips his luke warm beer and watches Niall sink his shot on the last round of beer pong. He wins the game and immediately begins to climb his partner, Zayn Malik, like a tree. He’s clambering all over the other lad and smacking loud, friendly kisses on Zayn’s cheek. Zayn, the fucking model that he is, looks completely unfazed. His hair, the color of ink, is all ruffed up and messy but he still looks like he walked out of the Burberry catalogue. Harry doesn’t understand how Niall and his friends can be so attractive. It’s completely unfair. 

The cheering dies down and Harry feels a shift in the air as another student wanders into the room. He’s got brown eyes and brown hair and a shit load of tattoos peeking out of his white t-shirt. Harry thinks there’s something off about the kid. His pants sag too low and the smile on his face is a bit smarmy and more like a smirk. He’s flocked by two other boys, all wearing silver and blue. 

“Bieber.” Niall spits, arms crossed over his chest. The singlet he’s wearing shows plenty of creamy skin and Harry takes a moment to stare at the beer flush across Niall’s cheeks and chest. His biceps also look nice from this angle. He sets his cup on the window sill and steps off of the wall to weave around a few students and get closer to hear what’s going on as Niall and the Bieber bloke migrate into the hallway.

“I want a rematch, Horan. You just got lucky last time and I want to reclaim what’s mine. I’ve got three hundred bucks and a bowl of hash that says I can beat you in a game of eight-ball.” The Bieber kid leans casually against the wall in front of Niall, smirking. Harry knows something isn’t quite right because Zayn’s got a hand resting on the crook of Niall’s elbow. It’s a warning.

“You’re on. Everyone knows I’m the real Pool King. I’ll kick your arse just like I did last time.” Niall says, uncrossing his arms and stomping away down the hall. The crowd erupts in half-whispers as the two boys leave. A gaggle of party goers follows them down the hall and somewhere at the front of the pack Harry hears someone yelling out, “Pool King challenge! Pool King challenge!” 

See, Harry knows that there are three things that are really important to Niall. The first is being Irish. Niall’s extremely proud of the fact and supports his Derby County football team wholeheartedly, even when they suck (which Harry has learned is most of the time). Harry’s never had the chance to go into Niall’s room at the frat house, but from what he’s heard, Niall has a giant Irish flag above his bed. He can also drink anybody on campus under the table and loves when he can get his hands on a good pint. The second thing that Niall values a lot is FIJI. Niall rushed the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity during freshman year and was quickly picked as one of the first recruits. He loves FIJI wholeheartedly and takes it to heart if anyone says anything bad about the house or his brothers. And the final thing that Harry learned Niall cares a lot about is pool. Niall grew up playing snooker in Ireland but when he got to the states, he found that he was extremely talented at playing pool. He started playing to make some extra cash but it soon spiraled out of hand and before he could blink he was kicking upperclassmen’s arses and winning concert tickets, an XBOX, a TV, and a Rolex. That’s mostly how he pays for his textbooks and living expenses. He’s Pool King on campus and when anybody threatens that, Niall takes it very seriously.

Harry’s shuffled into the basement along with a bunch of other students and drunk twenty-somethings. He finds a place at the front, but is quickly pushed out of the way by some of Niall’s brothers. At the back of the room are a few Phi Delts, shoulders tense and eyes sweeping looking for any signs of trouble. Harry hopes there’s not a fight. He doesn’t know if he could watch Niall physically beat someone up. He looks so tiny and frail but logically, he knows Niall takes boxing as his physical fitness credit and could probably snap him in half if he wanted. Harry would like Niall to bend him in half in other ways, but he can’t really think about that right now as Niall’s chalking his stick and rolling his shoulders in preparation.

Louis Tomlinson, a junior that is good friends with Niall, Liam, and Zayn, hops up on the pool table and cups his hands over his mouth.

“Everybody shut the fuck up!” Louis is from California. He’s got the tan and the cheeky smile of a Californian but he has the humor and attitude of a Brit which Harry finds extremely amusing. He and Louis have Biology class together and usually partner up for projects. 

Louis makes comments sometimes like he knows Harry’s harboring a massive crush on the lad, but he hasn’t said anything about it yet so Harry keeps his mouth shut. Harry’s not entirely sure how Louis found out but Louis always seems to know things that he’s not supposed to.

“Alright,” After everyone’s quieted, Louis uncups his hands and just talks at a normal volume, “Alright, Niall Horan, campus Pool King, is going to play Justin Bieber of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity for…what was it?”

Zayn, the one Niall had been climbing all over after winning beer pong, speaks up, “Justin said three hundred bucks and a bowl of hash. It better be the good shit too or he owes Niall fifty more.”

Louis nods and Justin scoffs but remains silent on the issue, “At stake is three hundred bucks and a bowl of hash and the title of campus Pool King! Now! We’ve got a few house rules that need discussed! This game shall be played Gentlemen’s Call! For those of you newbies joining us today, this means that shots should be called! Both the ball and pocket! Obvious balls and pockets do not have to be indicated!”

Louis then goes on to make some lame joke about dicks and the room laughs just to humor him. Harry tries to muffle his own laugh into his hand so as not to embarrass his self as Louis continues, “It is an opponent’s right to ask which ball and pocket if unsure of a shot, but banks and combinations are not dubbed as obvious and both the object ball and pocket must be identified. It is not necessary to indicate details such as the number of cushions, banks, kisses, etc.”

Louis pauses, “Also, because we’ve got quite the crowd gathered around, if the cue ball jumps off the table for any reason, the player automatically forfeits the game. All normal pool rules apply. Let’s get started! To decide who breaks rack, we’re flipping a coin. Since we are in the FIJI house (my lovely house, you filthy fucks), Niall gets to choose heads or tails in air.”

Louis procures a quarter from his pocket and shows it to both Niall and Justin to prove that it is not double-sided. He flips it in the air and Niall calls heads. It lands as tails. Justin goes first. 

Justin chalks up his stick and then takes his place at the head of the pool table. Everyone quiets down, waiting on bated breath. He breaks rack and Harry knows it’s legal because he hangs around Zayn a lot. Zayn, being Niall’s best friend, is decent at pool and Harry has an art class with him. He asked Zayn to teach him to play pool a few weeks ago, in the hopes that maybe he’d get pretty good and challenge Niall. Zayn laughed and told Harry he should ask Niall to teach him, seeing as he’s Pool King, but when he flushed red at the mention of his name, Zayn’s eyes went wide and he giggled.

“You have a crush on ‘im don’t you?” He smiled. Harry shook his head vehemently, “No, no I…”

“It’s alright, Harry. Louis told me.” Oh. Right. Zayn and Louis were and still are a thing. So of course Louis would tell Zayn. Harry remembers the blood pooling beneath his cheeks and he remembers standing up to go find another pencil or something as an excuse to get away when Zayn stopped him.

“Niall doesn’t know. It’s alright. Louis’s cheeky, but he’s not mean. He wouldn’t spill someone’s secrets like that. Have to admit though, that is kind of funny that you hang around with all of us but you’ve never met him. I think he’d really like you.”

Zayn had agreed to teach Harry the basic rules of pool and play him a few times. Harry wasn’t awful but he wasn’t exactly great at it either.

So, when Justin breaks rack, Harry watches to be sure that at least four balls do indeed bounce off the cushion. It’s a legal break, but none of the balls are pocketed, so Niall’s up. He rolls his shoulders and jumps up and down like a boxer for a second and on anyone else it would look like a douche move but on Niall it’s just his way of getting focused. Pretty much anything Niall does is endearing in Harry’s eyes.

Niall sets up a shot into the far corner pocket. He calls his shot and when he sinks the solid five ball into the pocket, the crowd cheers. Harry thinks he might just sweep the table. Niall walks around the table and sets up his next shot. He calls the pocket and the seven ball and sinks that in as well. Harry’s been on pins and needles, nervous for Niall though he knows logically that the odds are most definitely in Niall’s favor. He slowly breathes out and releases his white knuckled hold on a beer that had been thrusted into his hands on entrance to the basement. Niall continues to sink shot after shot. There are only a few balls left on the table left when Niall misjudges an angle and misses. It’s back to Justin and for Harry its back to chewing on his nails out of nervousness.

Harry’s starting to get nervous, because Justin has the ball and all that’s left for Niall is to sink the eight ball. The crowd is filled with the low hum of whispers. Justin is good, better than Zayn maybe but he’s definitely not as great as Niall. However, Justin gets too cocky and misjudges a shot. His ball bounces off the cushion at the wrong angle and careens into the eight ball. It skitters across the pool table and into the side pocket. Justin still had two striped balls to sink before he was allowed to sink the eight. Niall’s won by default, though Harry’s sure he still could have kicked Justin’s arse again.

It’s completely silent for a few seconds until the whole room erupts in cheers. The mass of people is moving and shifting like a wave as they rush forward to congratulate Niall. Harry merges with the group, but just over the top of everyone’s heads he sees Justin slink out the room, shoving over a potted plant on the way out and yelling obscenities. Niall is lifted onto somebody’s shoulders and somebody has started up “All I Do Is Win” on the speakers. Louis collects the packet of hash from one of Justin’s brothers along with the money. Everybody is still cheering and throwing congratulations at Niall as they finally get him up on the table. He stands up on the pool table beside Louis. Louis brohugs Niall and then once again tells everyone to quiet down.

“The winner and our still-reigning campus Pool King is Niall Horan!” He shouts as he picks up Niall’s fist and holds it to the ceiling. The crowd in the basement crows so loud that it hurts Harry’s ears a bit but he’s got a splitting grin on his face as he watches Niall pull his shirt off and swing it above his head in victory. Someone gets Niall a beer and he cheers again as he’s lifted onto someone’s shoulders and they filter out of the room. Harry realizes that its Liam carrying Niall on his shoulders and he laughs to himself.

Everything quiets a bit and people begin to ascend the stairs back to the dance floor and the party. Loud music blasts from the speakers and Harry starts to follow the others up after losing track of Niall in the mass of people. He’s smiling to himself and has a hand on the stair’s rail when somebody grabs his elbow.

“Harry!” He turns and finds Louis there, beer in hand and smiling his perfect, white teeth. He offers the beer to Harry.

“Hi, Lou.” Harry accepts the beer.

“Why don’t you come play cards with me and the boys? A bit of rummy, poker?” Harry shakes his head, “I probably should go. I’ve got some work that needs done.”  
“Awww, c’mon, Harold! I want you to meet Niall! He’s been asking about you!” Louis grins like the cat that caught the canary.

“He’s been asking about me?” That wasn’t actually what Harry wanted to say. It just kind of slipped out.

“Yeah. I’ve told him a lot about you. He likes football and golf, much like you do. You guys watch a lot of the same movies and tell dumb jokes. I might have also told him that you’re pretty attractive and I may or may not have helped him stalk your Facebook,” Louis smirks.

Harry doesn’t know what to do or say. It’s cool that he and Niall have a lot in common. It’s awesome that Louis talked him up and said he was attractive, but at the same time, Niall has seen his Facebook. Niall has witnessed embarrassing pictures and stupid things like ‘like this if you would rather go to Wyoming then meet Brittney Spears’ and other stupid shit from years ago. Niall knows that Harry only has about two hundred friends and that his favorite musicians are Ed Sheeran and The 1975 and Beyonce. Harry’s Facebook isn’t the most personal thing out there but he does share a lot on it. 

“Lou, I can’t. I don’t even know what to…like I can’t meet Niall? I’m just a freshman. He’s Pool King and I don’t do anything on campus except work at the bookstore. I sit in my room and read and he goes to parties and this is a really bad idea,” Harry word vomits.

“Shhh!” Louis clamps a hand over his mouth, “Niall gets along with everybody, remember? And I’m almost positive that he’s really going to like a cute, curly-haired giant with two left feet and bad jokes and dimples so shush. Now come play cards. Have some beer. Relax, Harry. Niall’s going to love you.”

Harry feels a bit like he might throw up, but follows obediently when Louis starts up the stairs. They stop in the kitchen and Louis grabs a six pack of Heineken and some food before they tromp back up some stairs and into a long hallway. Harry doesn’t think he can drink his beer with the way his stomach is clenching and fluttering full of nervous butterflies. He sets the bottle on a random window sill and continues to chase after Louis’s quick steps.  
Harry attempts to fix his shirt and run a nervous hand through his curls as he nearly jogs to keep up with Louis. Louis looks back to check on him and has to grab Harry’s wrist to keep him from falling when he trips over air.

“Would you stop it? You look fine!” Louis rolls his eyes as they begin to slow and near the end of the hallway, “Hey, before I forget, have you ever smoked before? Niall’s probably going to smoke that hash. It’s no big deal if you haven’t, we can shotgun you or something.”

“I’ve” Harry pauses. He thinks he should probably lie and say he has, “I’ve smoked before. It’s been a while but yeah, I’ve smoked.”

Louis looks like he knows that Harry’s lying but he doesn’t say anything. He just stops in front of a door on his right. Harry rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. The door they stand in front of is painted green. Somebody has painted the Irish flag on it along with two charicatures of Zayn and Niall. It’s really neat looking. There’s some neat graffiti of Batman playing a guitar and a painting of what Harry recognizes as the Derby logo in the upper corner. Harry suspects that Zayn painted it and when he asks Louis, he’s right.

“Don’t be nervous Harry. I’ve told Niall all about you. He’s quite interested. He’s seen you around. Called you sexy before so stop going into a panic. He already likes you.” Louis chastises him again when he catches Harry running a hand through his curls. Harry’s knees shake a bit.

Before Harry can make up another excuse and leave, Louis flings open the door without knocking. A shout rings out from somewhere in the room, but Harry can’t see anything because the door’s not quite opened all of the way.

“Tommo!” He recognizes Niall’s voice. Louis flings open the door and Harry sees the room. It’s a decent sized room. The bed on the right is lofted and beneath it is a futon. There’s also a bed on the left side that is lofted as well and beneath that is a mini fridge and a desk. There’s a TV to the left side sitting atop a stand and there’s a massive movie collection from what Harry can see.

Niall is sitting on the futon his feet propped up on some kind of cube in front of him. Zayn is standing by the window smoking a cigarette. The smoke floats out the half open window. Liam is lying on the floor, throwing some kind of ball up at the ceiling. 

“And who is this?” 

Harry meets Niall’s eyes for the first time and nearly has a stroke. He’s got a black snapback on turned around backwards. Fluffy tufts of blonde hair wisp out behind his ears and the brim of the cap. He’s not wearing a shirt, just a pair of black trackies. The top of his boxers peek out. Harry’s eyes trace over Niall’s smooth chest and the creamy skin of his stomach and his arms before he catches himself staring a bit too much and looks at the floor. He hears Zayn stifle a giggle and he really wants to punch his stupidly attractive face in.

“This is Harry Styles. He’s a baby freshman.” Louis pinches Harry’s cheeks and Harry slaps his hands away indignantly. He’s in my required Bio class and he’s in Zayn’s art class and he’s Liam’s advisee so it is pretty crazy that you haven’t met him yet, Nialler!”

“Hi, Harry Styles. I’m Niall Horan. Can’t believe we haven’t met before,” He stands from the futon and shakes Harry’s hand and it feels so strange and formal for the situation.

“Yeah, pretty strange,” Harry says. Niall grins and offers Harry a seat. He digs around in the mini fridge and pulls out a beer, he hands it off to Harry and he accepts so he has something to do with his hands. Niall fills the mini fridge with the beer Louis brought up before he plops down beside Harry. Louis has crossed the room to launch himself into Zayn’s arms. Zayn grumbles like he’s mad but Harry can see the fondness in Zayn’s eyes from here. Zayn sticks a hand in the back pocket of Louis’s jeans and Louis rests his head on Zayn’s shoulder.

 

“Do you want to smoke with me? Zayn opted for a cigarette instead and Louis doesn’t like hash. Liam doesn’t smoke at all and now I’ve got no one to share with. You wanna share?” He’s so polite and cute that Harry melts a little. Harry suspects he might have already had some before he arrived because Niall’s movements are a bit sluggish and he looks relaxed. His pupils are a little blown and his smile is kind of dopey.

He doesn’t trust his voice to speak so he just nods in answer. Niall packs the bowl and Harry’s foot nervously bounces in place. Niall catches it out of the corner of his eye but he just smiles to himself.

“You ever smoke before?” Niall asks. Harry thinks about lying but he knows he’s bollocks at it. “No.” Harry shrugs. He’s a bit shy about it but Niall just smiles at him and tugs Harry closer on the sofa. Harry feels the blush stain his cheeks and doesn’t know where to look or what to do. Niall smiles encouragingly at him and Niall really wants to ask why he’s always doing so. He’s always smiling at everything.

“We can shotgun it,” Niall offers. Harry nods timidly. He can see Louis making faces at them out of the corner of his eye but he ignores him. Liam and Zayn are fighting over game controllers and arguing over what to play. Louis gets them both beers and sits on the floor.

“Harry?” Niall whispers, Harry’s eyes find Niall’s. “We don’t have to smoke if you don’t want to. You know that right?”

Harry’s insides are turning because of course Niall is polite when he’s about to smoke up.

“I know. It’s okay. I want to, I just haven’t before.” Harry admits. Niall nods, lifting Harry’s chin so he can meet his eyes. 

“Shotgunning is a bit easier. I’ll take smaller hits. When you inhale just relax and don’t gulp at it or you’ll choke. You might cough a bit at first. Try to hold it in your lungs for a second if you can and then just exhale.” Niall explains. Harry nods. 

Niall inhales a lungful of smoke and holds it for a moment. He puts a small, calloused hand behind Harry’s neck and brings him closer. Harry knows his face is rouged but when he meets Niall’s eyes it doesn’t really matter anymore. This close, Harry can see all of the colors that make up Niall’s eyes. There are flecks of yellow and navy and cerulean and gray and looking into them is like being sucked into a black hole. Harry’s never seen anything more beautiful. He’s completely lost in them.

Harry nearly chokes when Niall fits his mouth over his and exhales the smoke into Harry’s own lungs. Harry tries to inhale carefully but he leans back and coughs a bit. Niall’s eyes catch the light and he swears they’re twinkling a bit. 

Niall takes another hit and they try again. This time Harry holds it without coughing. He pulls back and hides his face bashfully by staring at his shoes. Niall lifts his chin again, “You’ve got beautiful eyes.”

Harry flushes scarlet, whispers a thanks as Niall hits again and fits his mouth over Harry’s. He lets Harry take a few hits and shotgun them into Niall’s mouth. They pass it back and forth and lazily finish the bowl. Harry’s feeling buzzed when they have finished. He feels a bit like he has noodles for bones. He feels a bit weightless and slightly dizzy so he falls back on to the futon and closes his eyes. He hears Zayn and Liam and Louis arguing over the game on the TV and he giggles to himself.

Niall laughs too and leans across the futon to fall atop Harry. They burst out in laughter and Harry sees the others glance up at them. He sees Liam quirk an eyebrow and Zayn and Louis trade a look. Niall curls up on Harry’s chest. He rests his head beneath Harry’s chin and settles his hand on Harry’s chest. Niall’s tracing patterns with his index finger.

“Hey, Niall?”

“Hmm?” Niall asks, still spelling things out on Harry’s chest.

“Thanks for letting me smoke with you. Good stuff.” Harry mumbles, eyes drooping. 

“It’s no problem.” Niall whispers. Louis’s character scores on the game, and it sends Liam and Zayn into rage. Liam claims Louis cheated and Zayn says that Louis made an illegal move.

“I should get going,” Harry says, sitting up. Niall’s sitting on his lap now, legs straddled over Harry’s hips.

“You can stay, if you want. Sleep here. Liam does it all the time.” Niall says, arm slipping around Harry’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

“I would, but I’m supposed to meet a study group at half nine tomorrow morning,” Harry sighs. Niall nods in understanding and crawls off of Harry’s lips. Harry can’t be sure but he thinks Niall might be blushing.

“C’mon. I’ll walk you out.” Niall grabs Harry’s hand and links their fingers. He leads him down the hall to the stairs. They pass through a doorway and then they stumble into the living room area. 

“I’m glad you came, Harry,” Niall smiles, still holding Harry’s hand.

“Me, too. Thanks again, for the beer and the smoke.” 

“S’no problem. Have you got your coat? It’s freezing out.” Niall asks. Harry shakes his head, “No, I didn’t bring one.”

“Harry! It’s freezing bollocks out there! Wait here, don’t move, mmkay?” Niall demands. Harry nods. Niall dashes back through the door. Harry’s hand is still tingling from where Niall’s had been holding it.

Niall returns with something in his hands. It’s one of his jumpers. 

“Here,” He thrusts the cotton into Harry’s hands. Harry shakes his head, “I’ll be fine Niall.”

“No, it’s freezing. Also, I’m pretty buzzed and a little bit drunk and I had to go back up the stairs alone for this.” Niall grins.

“Alright.” Harry pulls it over his head. It fits him nicely. It’s gray and has NY on it. The Y is the Eiffel tower upside down, “Thanks.”

Niall follows Harry to the front door. He opens it and a gust of wind flutters some papers pinned to the wall. Harry’s thankful for the jumper. Harry’s about to step down the steps when Niall grabs him.

“Harry?” Niall meets his eyes, “Can I…can I kiss you?”

Harry’s no doctor but he’s pretty sure his heart isn’t supposed to beat this fast and hard. He nods. Niall curls closer to Harry and gets up on his toes. He wraps a hand around Harry’s neck so he can tuck his fingers into his hair and the other goes to Harry’s cheek.

Their lips meet in a slow drag. Harry tugs Niall closer and fits his mouth more properly over Niall’s. Their noses bump together. Niall opens his mouth and their tongues brush slowly against each other. Harry pulls away, needing air and chest panting. It’s everything Harry’s wanted and more.

Niall pulls away, eyes bright. Harry’s hair is a bit disheveled so he flattens it down. He pulls a sharpie out of his pocket and grabs Harry’s arm. He slides the sleeve up and writes his number down, dotting it with a few x’s and a smiling face.

“Call me, okay? Tomorrow, we can go for lunch or even Monday if you’re busy.” Niall pulls Harry’s sleeve back down. He leans up to kiss Harry again.

And then Harry’s stumbling out the door, cheeks flushed and heart fluttering. Niall leans against the doorframe, his own heart pounding, and watches Harry stumble down the sidewalk


End file.
